Four Reasons to Use Honeywell Mobility Edge for Your Android Device Deployments (Part 2)

In Part 1, we will explore Reason # 1: Accelerate Deployments and Reason #2: Optimize Business Performance. In Part 2 we will explore Reason #3: Extend Lifecycle and Reason #4: Strengthen Security.

In Part 1 of this two-part article, we introduced Mobility Edge™. Mobility Edge is based upon extensive research gathered from Honeywell’s global community of customers from a range of technologies. Honeywell recognized that businesses wanted a unified hardware and software platform for all form factors – one that allowed for rapid deployments, robust performance, and adaptability to changing needs.

We completely rethought our approach to meeting the challenges of supporting a mobile workforce, and Mobility Edge was the answer. This unified, dynamic platform for mobile computing is designed to:

• Accelerate Deployments
• Optimize Business Performance
• Extend Lifecycle
• Strengthen Security

Mobility Edge offers an integrated, repeatable, scalable approach to device management that is based on a common hardware and software platform. Designed for Android™, it delivers a unified platform that all software solutions are based on. Businesses can develop and deploy faster while reducing development costs.

The Mobility Edge common platform is composed of:

• Common SOM (System On Module), which includes the CPU, memory, WWAN (in selected devices), WLAN, Bluetooth®, near-field communication (NFC), and Zigbee (in selected devices).
• Common Operating System Image with support for multiple generations of Android, from Android O through Android R.
• Common Software Ecosystem that includes not just Honeywell software, but also Honeywell-approved ISVs (independent software vendors).

Together these common elements minimize your company’s cost, effort, and risk. They accelerate your time-to-value so you can start deploying devices into the hands of your mobile workers much faster. And they maximize your ROI by extending the lifecycle of your devices. Now let’s look at reason 3 and reason 4.

Reason 3: Optimize Business Performance

Shorter device lifecycles cause frustration for IT departments with adverse impacts on productivity, security, and ROI.

Mobility Edge is Honeywell’s answer to the need to extend the life of your mobile devices ‒ and get full return on your solution investment. Investing in a new Honeywell device in 2019, you will benefit from at least 6 years of useful life, through 2025. Here is how we do it:

Security Support through 5 Versions of Android (O to R) – We have collaborated closely with Google on their Android mobile OS, and with Qualcomm® on their mobile device chipset, to provide a guarantee of compatibility and support for Mobility Edge all the way through Android R. This is the longest mobile device lifecycle in the industry.

Extended Android Security Updates – Once Google has reached the end of support for Android R and stops issuing security patches, Honeywell extends support by providing critical security patches for an additional two years via our Honeywell Sentinel™ service. This commitment extends through 2025. Honeywell is the only solution provider who guarantees such long-lasting support.

Battery Optimizer – The Battery Optimizer provides information about current battery health and state of charge. It optionally allows users to choose different preset and custom optimization profiles to extend the available runtime of the battery pack, which is useful in situations where an external charger is not readily available.

Devices to Support Next-Gen SOM – The modular architecture of the Mobility Edge platform facilitates future development of a new family of models incorporating a next-generation SOM architecture, allowing customers to reduce their upgrade cost by leveraging existing peripherals and minimizing user training when upgrading their systems.

Self-Diagnostics – All Mobility Edge devices have an integrated self-diagnostics utility, allowing users to identify and diagnose basic device issues.

Operational Intelligence – Your Enterprise Asset Management – mastered, and tailored to your environment to help you achieve business goals.

Android Enterprise Recommended Program
Mobility Edge devices are part of the Google Android Enterprise Recommended program. This means these rugged devices meet the defined technical specifications and extended lifecycle support requirements that customers have come to expect for their enterprise device deployments.

So customers can select with confidence knowing these devices are built for hard enterprise environments and can withstand the abuse of daily activities. They can deploy easily using multiple provisioning options including zero-touch enrollment, Google’s fast and simple deployment method. And devices will remain up-to-date over long multi-year deployments with guaranteed security.

Reason 4: Strengthen Security

We live in a time where security breaches are a constant threat to business. In 2018, according to IBM¹, the average cost of a data breach was $3.8 million ‒ but it can easily be much more than that.

Just a few years ago, one large national U.S. retailer experienced a security breach that exposed the sensitive data of millions of consumers. The cost in IT, legal, remediation, and related expenses exceeded $300 million.

How Honeywell Strengthens Device Security
Honeywell has a deep institutional and cultural focus on security across multiple domains. We invest over $50 million annually in cybersecurity and employ 300+ dedicated security professionals who are focused on protecting our customers.

We design security into our products, policies, and processes. The best way to ensure that you have a secure device is to make sure that you are using the most recent version of the operating system and up-to-date security patches. We provide a regular security patch cadence for Mobility Edge devices of at least every 90 days, and often as frequently as every 30 days.

Our security built-in, design-to-delivery process has a strong emphasis on programming security into products to anticipate and mitigate risk. We do this by embedding deep domain knowledge of industry leading security practices throughout our full design and development process to ensure our solutions are as secure as possible from the start. We also make our solutions as free of vulnerabilities to attack as possible through such measures as continuous testing, authentication safeguards, and adherence to best programming practices. And, this isn’t anything new for Honeywell. We have had over 1,000 global engagements since 2006, and are the provider of managed security services for over 350 industrial sites. To continue our focus and lead the way in the industry, we put in place the industry’s first Cybersecurity Risk Manager and developed strategic partnerships with leading cybersecurity product vendors.

Honeywell devices on the Mobility Edge platform are guaranteed to support Google operating systems from Android O through Android R. We are the only company that guarantees support through Android R. When Google ends its security patch support, Honeywell is committed to extending security patch availability for two more years via Honeywell Sentinel, until 2025. Are you ready?

Honeywell’s Commitment to the Platform
Honeywell is deeply committed to the longevity and quality of the Mobility Edge platform. In 2018 we launched the Dolphin™ CT40, Dolphin CT60, Dolphin CN80, and Thor™ VM1A devices, all running on Mobility Edge.

Thus far in 2019, we have released the Dolphin CK65, and you can expect to see the Mobility Edge family of devices continue to grow year after year. A brief overview of the current Mobility Edge family:

• Dolphin CN80 mobile computer, an ultra-rugged device for warehouse, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics environments. The most durable handheld Honeywell has ever made, it features both keypad and large touchscreen interface for quick, efficient data entry.
• Dolphin CT60 mobile computer, a rugged versatile business tool for highly mobile frontline workers in scan-intensive workflows in pickup and delivery, DSD, and parcel post. It offers a long-lasting battery, high-performance scanning, and exceptional durability and reliability.
• Dolphin CT40 mobile computer, a full-touch, five-inch display device designed for retail, hospitality, and light field mobility environments. It’s an intuitive, compact productivity tool optimized for hours of comfortable use.
• Dolphin CK65 mobile computer, a rugged, flexible solution for warehouse and manufacturing environments, with both touchscreen and keypad data input options for quick data entry and enhanced scanning read ranges of up to 15.2 m (50 ft).
• Thor VM1A, the world’s top-selling vehicle-mounted computer. Hits the sweet spot of overall size, display size, and keypad. The Smart Dock enables use on multiple vehicles and reduces support and maintenance costs. A field-replaceable front panel minimizes downtime.
   

For more information about how Honeywell Mobility Edge can make a difference in your organization, contact your Honeywell account representative.

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Source:
 1. McCarthy, Niall. The Average Cost Of A Data Breach Is Highest In The U.S. [Infographic], Forbes, July 13, 2018.